Article- Lost in Showbiz - Harsh

Lost in Showbiz

Harsh Chhaya is back to base, fresh from a long sojourn in Bollywood. The actor, who is best known for his TV roles in Swabhimaan and Tara, has starred in films like Fashion, My Friend Ganesha-2, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, Bheja Fry and Corporate to name a few. His latest offing on the small-screen is Surya: The Super Cop, an investigative serial. Talking about his role the actor says, "Surya: The Super Cop has an interesting plot and I love the way the role of my character, Surya, shapes up. I have always been very fascinated with characters like cops and detectives and it's a great thing that such a role came across."

Harsh's character Surya, is an ex-senior police officer, who is under suspension and awaiting a pending report of a departmental inquiry set-up to probe a tragic incident where in the pursuit to nab the culprits, Surya ends up being blinded and a few of his colleagues lose their lives.

Harsh adds, "Surya's role was a challenging one. But, I had already been through the experience of playing a blind character years ago. My first professional assignment on TV, 20 years ago, was that of a blind character. Around that time I was in Delhi and being new to television I wanted to do all the research required for my role. So I visited a Blind Relief Association at Delhi and spent a month-and-a-half with the visually-handicapped people and their trainers. That spade-work and grounding helped in this serial too."

Harsh researched extensively on the Internet about blind people before the shoot of Surya: The Super Cop commenced. "The challenge was to have the conviction to perform the role with ease. I realised that until my role was not convincing enough it would be difficult to do justice to it. On the Internet I came across a Spanish blind couple who were painters. I read about their life, how they painted even after being blind and of the challenges they faced. That helped develop a character sketch of Surya in my mind. I also came across a blind detective who helps the local cops at Belgium. When the Belgium police find it difficult to solve any case, this guy is usually called in."

Harsh, who was last seen on the big-screen in Madhur Bhandarkar's Fashion, admits that he never withdrew from television for his film aspirations. "I have and will always continue to do television. Yes, I have not being doing as much television of late. But that's a personal decision that I have made. As I'm choosy about the serials in which I could like to be cast, I have been out of television for five to six months at a stretch. But 99 per cent of my work is TV-related and I try to do something on the small-screen every year," he says.

Question the actor about his stint in films and he quips, "As far as movies are concerned I fit in as a character actor. But, unfortunately, the roles that come across are not that interesting or worth my time. A role like the one I essayed in Fashion is very rare."

The actor admits that he doesn't lead a charmed life, but a more positive outlook has helped him offset the toughest knocks, "I don't get the kind of work I want and the roles that I'm offered are not the ones that I like. Whenever the two match I do it."

anita.aikara@expressindia.com

@screenindia.com